called a shocking report on what went wrong in the incident. and a story generating an awful lot of buzz on cnn.com, new york city's tip for safer use of heroin pamphlet. critics are calling it a how-to guide for shooting heroin. plus your comments, all that coming up. the deep freeze that just won't loosen its grip on the midwest and deep south, here's a look at oma nebraska where they've gotten 21 inches of snow on the ground. that's the most in january since they've been keeping records. they also say the average temperature so far in 2010, 3 degrees in omaha. then the mississippi river in illinois is freezing over and it's snowing in chicago. forecasters calling for six or more inches by tomorrow. rob marciano is in memphis, tennessee, and the sub freezing temperatures there have had deadly consequences formorning,

>> reporter: good morning. this cold, not unprecedented, what is unusual is the extended time, the number of days, the streak of this cold that just refuses to let up. the midsouth, not just the people, but the homes just aren't built for this kind of cold. so people are struggling just to stay warm, just to survive. and here in memphis it's not the only spot. much of the nation is in the grips of deadly cold. florida, battling its longest cold snap in 20 years. >> i feel like a block of ice. it was just that cold. >> reporter: further north, it's so cold chunks of ice float down the mississippi. and in some spots it's completely frozen over. snow has been piling up from kansas city to the carolinas. and here in memphis, at least three fatalities have been attributed to the bitter cold. so the sheriff's special services unit volunteers are

going door to door. >> you just stay inside until it's safe to go out there. >> okay. >> we want to make sure that you're good, okay? >> all right. >> reporter: but many in memphis are without utilities because they simply can't pay. so the mayor and memphis light, gas and water will turn the power back on until the weather warms up. jackie moses had about without utilities for almost a year until now. >> i have lights now. my porch light is on, my kitchen light is on, oh, thank you. oh, i have lights. >> propane heaters and burning char kol to stay alive. >> when you're trying to survive, you're not thinking of that hazard, you're thinking of -- listen to that! >> reporter: what? >> heat. >> reporter: the sweet sound. >> that's heat! oh, my god. >> reporter: for now, she's

grateful for getting to sleep in a warm home with even colder nights on the way. >> thank you so much. thank you, thank you so much. >> reporter: clearly happy to have the heat on, and the lights on and her stove on. and she's not the only one. so far, they have turned on 500 customers have had their power and lights turned on that had them turned off because they simply couldn't pay. a devastating effect of the economy. jackie, very frustrated that in the past two years she's come here she hasn't been able to find a job. but certainly grateful last night and to the folks turning her power on last night. snow in memphis, not unheard of but surreal to find it behind me, temperatures not all that bad. right around 30 degrees. but with this cold air will come another arctic blast scheduled to be even colder than the last one and then again saturday,

morning, we could very well see temperatures that get close to zero and that poses even more problems. back to you. >> and just what a heart breaking picture you showed us, going that long and being so happy just to have the heat and lights back on again. it's amazing. rob, thank you. this bitter winter cold snap is going to be sticking around for a while. our jacqui jeras tracking the extreme weather for us in the weather center in atlanta. >> it's been cold, obviously bitterly cold for the eastern two-thirds of the country throughout much of the week. the worst of this coming into play for your friday morning, and then gradual warming by the weekend. so we have a long ways to go with this arctic front as it continues to make its way across the nation's midsection and all ahead of it we're looking at that heavy snow and then wintry mix in parts of the south. some of the worst travel conditions today will be from chicago down towards the st. louis area, and windchill indices will be anywhere between minus 30 and minus 40 across the

upper midwest. the freezing temperatures moving into the southeast. watch for that snow to be moving in places like birmingham and atlanta later on today. >> we'll see you back here again soon. thanks. president obama will speak again today about the near catastrophe on christmas day in just a few hours, the white house will release a preliminary report on how they failed to connect the dots. attorney general eric holder says the investigation, quote, has already yielded valuable intelligence. meantime, the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab has been indicted by a federal grand injury in michigan. debra fair rick is on our security watch this morning and joins us live in detroit. good morning, deborah. >> good morning, kiran. yesterday the grand jury met and handed out a six-count

indictment that carri indictment. the attempted mushder of some 290 people aboard that plane and the destruction of the u.s. carrier. new and significant is the use of tatp an explosive used in conjunction with another material, that's what the suspect allegedly tried to detonate to take down that plane. robert gibbs says the questioning of abdulmutallab early on did yield to, quote, unquote, actionable intelligence. specifically who he met with and where he was, those places including yemen, ghana and nigeria. now abdulmutallab is not talking anymore. he has retained a lawyer, a very skilled federal defender here in the detroit area. soon after he was arrested, he did tell federal agents that he was in yemen, that's where he received the device and instructions on how to use it. he also told them at the time he had extremist affiliations.

so he is here, he is being kept in a jail about 45 minutes away. he is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow afternoon. kiran? >> thank you. also at 6:30 eastern, we'll take a closer look at the terror threat here at home with duke university professor and co-author of a new study on home grown terrorism. he'll be joining us with professor of security studies at north dakota state. the department of homeland security is under intense scrutiny now after the christmas bombing attempt. the head of the agency secretary janet napolitano talked with our jeanne meserve. >> this is something that affects all of us. it's not just americans who are traveling internationally, it's not just americans who are on these planes. we want to have an environment where everybody who is traveling is protected. >> and secretary napolitano also

answering the burning question, is the nation now at a greater risk of terrorist attack? we'll have that for you coming up in less than 30 minutes. also new this morning, the so-called balloon boy's dad, richard henne speaking out to larry king for the first time since his guilty plea days before heading to jail. he refused to admit this whole incident was a hoax. >> larry: some say you believe your son was in the craft. >> i knew he was in the craft. >> larry: but he wasn't. >> in my mind. in my mind there was no other place because i visualized him. i yelled at him to not go in. >> henne says he pleaded guilty to save his wife mayumi from being deported to japan. you can watch that tomorrow night on "larry king live." target yemen, the risks of fighting al qaeda on yet another front. that story just ahead.

one little smile, one little laugh. honey bunny. [ babbles ] [ laughs ] we would do anything for her. my name is kim bryant and my husband and i made a will on legalzoom. it was really easy to do. [ spits ] [ both laugh ] [ robert ] we created legal zoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

♪ the most news in the morning, time for a quick check of other stories new this morning. a daring escape outside a new york city police station all caught on tape. a 22-year-old armed robbery suspect headed to court after he slipped out of his handcuffs and made a run for the staten island ferry terminal. reresponding officers trapped him and arrested him 15 minutes later. he suffered a broken ankle. >> it didn't even look like he had the cuffs on.

it looked so easy. scary moment as board a hawaiian airline jet, two jet fighters were scrambled yesterday to escort this hawaii-bound plane back to oregon. why in because of an unruly passenger. tsa officials say the passenger made threatening remarks and refused to stow his carriy-on bag. they were interviewed but then released. and new concern that airport security will result in muslim passengers being profiled. a group wants the tsa to clarify whether head scarves, what are called hijabs, will trigger singling out. a woman claims dulles put her through a full body patdown when she refused to remove her scarf. and anti-terror operations

aimed at flushing out a group that president obama calls a threat to international security. the fight has its diplomatic challenges as well. here's our pentagon correspondent barbara starr with an "a.m. original." >> reporter: president obama is vowing to shut down terrorist networks once and for all. but how do you do it in a country like yemen where the u.s. is not at war with the government? the u.s. embassy in yemen shuts down after al qaeda threatens to attack. the u.s. says umar farouk abdulmutallab, trained by al qaeda in yemen, carries explosives on an airliner bound for detroit. now headquartered in yemen, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap, is front and center in the u.s. war on terror. the top commander of u.s. forces in the reasonable visited yemen to review the latest intelligence on where several hundred al qaeda members have been hiding, and where crucial training camps are located

across the country. general david petraeus made a public pledge to yemen about the way ahead in their fight against al qaeda. >> it's well known about 70 million in security assistance last year that will more than double this coming year. >> reporter: a senior u.s. official says the new pot of $140 million will now be used in part to train yemeni special forces so they can target al qaeda and establish a new counterterrorism center to handle the intelligence on those targets. it's all a huge turn around for yemen. the president han been known to political ll lly now they are seen as key to future progress. >> when it comes to the yemeni officers i've worked with, i'd have to say that each one of them has been a very committed individual professional, somebody who takes the threat seriously. >> reporter: but some experts warn a cozy relationship with

yemen could still backfire. >> one of the dangers i think of the u.s. taking a very active and overt role within yemen is that it will really serve i think to galvanize numerous different strands of opposition within the country against u.s. forces. >> reporter: even though covert military operations may be planned, don't look for u.s. troops to fight openly on the ground. u.s. military policy remains unchanged. help the yemeni military, get them to do the fighting, and make them loyal partners in the war on terror. john? kiran? >> barbara starr for us this morning. thanks so much. coming up next, christine romans, "minding your business." the top recession scams to watch out for. (announcer) we understand. you want to grow internationally.

♪ welcome back to "american morning," 18 minutes past the hour right now, that means it's time for "minding your bis." gm's ceo, ed whit acre says the company will focus on sales

rather than slashing expenses. the ought he toe maker has lost money every year since 2005 and was the first to be forced to file bankruptcy last year. france is considered the best place to live in the world, for the fifth straight year a recent poll places australia at number two, followed by switzerland, germany, new zealand, lux many burg and the united states of america. and looking out for scams in the economic downturn. >> otherwise reasonable people are falling victim to these things. especially fake check scams. >> i keep getting e-mails that i've been sent $1 million from people i've never heard of. >> you wire me a check and i'll wire a bit of it back. i promise it's lee jit. first of all, you could get these government scams, look, i'll help you get stimulus money. you just give me a bit of money

and i'll help you navigate the process. caution. there is no program to help you get government cash to pay your bills. they're targeting small business as well. be careful if anybody is telling you that they can sell you access to government money. also for job hunters, pay a fee, we'll help you get a job. here's the job for you, you just need to pay for your credit check. give us all your bank information, your social security number, pay us the fee and we'll get you a job. wrong. they just want access to your financial information and they want your money. there's no job at the end of the rainbow here. mortgage help, be rescued from foreclosure. most of this information, most of these programs, they are free. you work with your bank. you work with the government's program on this. you don't need to pay somebody hundreds and thousands of dollars to try to save your home. and those scams are very insidious, because the forms that you get in the mail look an awful lot like the form that's are legitimate forms from the government and your loan servicer. be very careful if somebody

wants to take your money to prevent foreclosure. this last one i find fascinating, and a lot of pretty desperate people are starting to think about this because it's a great job. be a mystery shopper. you work and go and go to the malls, go to these stores, and you buy stuff and you rate the stores, rate the products and rate the customer service. you are a mystery shopper, and you're paid for by the companies. wrong. what they do is send you a check, they tell you to deposit the check, they give you a list of all the places to go to evaluate and one of the last places on the list is like a money lending place like a western union, one of the places you can wire money. what they've done is put money, a check that's not going to clear into your account, you go do all of these things, spent thousands of your own money and now you've wired money back to these scammers and you've completely lost out. you'd be surprised how many people are doing this. the fake check scams are crazy. 1.3 million people have fallen victim to these fake check scams. it's not just a couple of

people. you might think that no reasonable person is going to do this. they are. if you have elderly parents accident make sure you talk to them about these scams because they are prolific. even college kids desperate for cash. >> on that one, couldn't they just -- you get that money in your account, shop at all the other places and then don't do the last one and then keep the money? >> there's no money really going in your account. it's still a pain in the you know what, because you'll have to return all the stuff -- if it sounds too good to be true, it is. wherever there's a foreclosure crisis, there's a scam. >> do you have a romans numeral? >> i do. it's $4,000. >> that's the average scam? >> that's the average victim's loss. according to the consumer federation of america, this is for the fake check scams. most of these scams all come counsel to a fake check. somebody sends you a check, maybe it's too much money and they want some money back. one-third of adults have been approached for fake check. >> can we lay something out

there? people don't just out of the blue offer you money. >> you know why? people fall for it. hundreds of thousands of people fall for it. make sure you talk to the people around you. a story that had a lot of people talking, it's this controversial how-to guide for heroin users put out by new york alina cho will join us with an update. [ announcer ] if you think about it, this is a lot like most job search sites. - they let everyone in, - [ crowd groans ] so the best people can't stand out. join theladders.com. the premium job site for only $100k+ jobs... and only $100k+ talent.

♪ we've got a shot this morning of atlanta. look at that. they've still got the light on

celebrating halloween on the bank of america. >> that joke needs to retire in 2010, all right? all right? when you say something wrong one time and no one let's you live it down. partly cloudy, 42 degrees, rain and snow showers later today in atlanta. >> i figured we could milk that all the way until next halloween. >> only if you dress up. it's a deal? >> it will be a cold day in a very warm place before i dress up for halloween. let me tell you. it's 26 minutes after the hour, time for an "a.m. original." this one getting an awful lot of buzz on our blog. the new york city health department defending its pamphlet about drug prevention. the flyer teaches heroin addicts how to shoot up safely. >> the health department says it's really designed to help save lives. critics say it's not that at all. it's basically a lesson in drug taking 101. alina cho reports. >> reporter: the 16-page pamphlet is called take charge, take care, ten tips for safer

use. a virtual heroin how-to guide, complete with illustrations and detailed tips. warm your body. jump up and down to show your veins. don't always inject in the same spot. and don't dig for veins. if you don't register, pull out and try again. >> jump up and down to show your veins, find the vein before you try to inject it, you know, where's the health concern there, if you've missed a vein you might get a bruise? that's an egregious use of taxpayer money. >> reporter: the brain child of the new york city health department, flyers paid for with 32,000 taxpayer dollars. >> it sends out the message and the wrong message that heroin use can be safe. heroin use cannot be safe. heroin use can be deadly. >> reporter: that's exactly why new york's health department says these tips are crucial. accidental overdose is the leading cause of death in new york city, claiming more than

600 lives a year. another big issue? hiv and aids. one-third of americans living with hiv are infected through injection drug use. one reason why the health department also encourages users not to share needles. but adds there's no healthy use of drugs, just helpful information. >> the messages are clear. it's about getting help to stop using drugs, it's about preventing overdose, it's about preventing hiv infection and hepatitis infection. that's the context. >> reporter: information that could have helped this 35-year-old heroin user. we'll call him john. he shoots up several times a week. 2 1/2 years ago john was diagnosed with hepatitis c. >> most people using will find a way to use regardless. i think it's better that somebody has the right information so that they can do it the right way. >> since we first brought you this story yesterday we have been watching our blog very

closely. the response from you has been pretty evenly split right down the middle. gregory writes, these angry roars about the so-called how-to heroin flyers must be from the same folks who doblged the reality bullet about teen sex. afterall we know for a certainty if you don't talk about it, it doesn't exist. and andrea says, it is sad these are the people we are helping. we aren't helping the abused and neglected kids whose parents aren't taking care of them, we aren't helping the elderly who don't have enough money to eat. we're helping drug addicts. seriously? listen, guys, when i first got this assignment i started looking into it. obviously you're human, you're going to have a reaction to it. after interviewing people on both sides, i have to say, you can see both sides. but people are very passionate on either side. the health department is quick to say, listen, this is a stop gap measure. until those recovering addicts can go and get help.

critics say there's people who don't want help, right? if you can buy heroin for less than a six-pack of beer, you will die in a lot of cases. it's a tough thing. other people say if you're going to do something like this, do it right, be detailed. but that's what's shocking to a lot of people. >> all right. alina cho, good stuff. we invite people to weigh in again, cnn.com/amfix. >> and can you -- yeah, as we say, go to the blog, any time you want. let us know what you think about everything this morning. 30 minutes past the hour, time for top stories. an arctic blast causing death, many elderly or homeless, and round two of unbearable cold is on the way. jacqui jeras will be here with the blizzard warnings for the north and record lows for the south in 20 minutes. a report on the intel failures before the attempted attack on christmas, jim jones

says the details will shock some americans. the president himself has said we had the information to stop a nigerian man from allegedly boarding a flight overseas with explosives in his underwear but did not connect the dots. and jeanne meserve sat down with janet napolitano and flat out asked if we are more at risk today. >> the typical kind of assumption on the threat was sort of a large conspiratorial 9/11 style attack. what we saw on christmas was an individual who comes out of yemen, who's been radicalized, who gets into the travel system, dots are not connected in the intelligence community and that's what the president has ordered to be addressed and rectified. he gets through the screening done at amsterdam and gets on a

plane bound for the united states. that's a much more difficult threat in a way to deal with than a conspiracy where you have multiple ways to intercept communications and the like. so i would say it's a changing threat and perhaps a more difficult threat. >> the threat from home grown terrorism may be real but a new study says it's not as great as some think. duke university credits the american muslim community with limiting radicalization by policing itself. joining us from durham, north carolina, co-author of the duke study and professor of islamic studies there. and from fargo, north dakota, assistant professor at north dakota state. when you look at this study, it's a lengthy study. how big a problem did up find radicalization is in the united states and is there some way to quantify it? >> john, it's very difficult to quantify it.

but in the first areas we looked at, detroit, seattle, raleigh durham area and houston, in those areas we found the communities are taking active steps in order to combat whatever elements of radicalization there is in their communities, et cetera. and this is a very, very healthy sign. >> you found that 139 people had been arrested and accused of -- arrested or accused of planning or carrying out terror related violence since the september 11th attacks. your co-author says the study is a demonstration that the fear of radicalization is out of proportion to the actual threat. do you agree with that? >> that's the inherent nature of terrorism is that it doesn't -- you don't need a lot of people to create a lot of fear. so in this case, i think their radicalization is a problem. i think we need to address it in context as the study says, but it's something that law enforcement is going to continue to wrestle with for a while in

this country. >> you know, we don't have many of the same issues in the united states that many european nations do when it comes to radicalization. obviously a lot of muslim countries as well. there's greater asimulation here, different peoples from around the world, greater prosperity. so what are the steps to radicalization? what are the influences here that you're picking up? >> well, i think muslim communities are doing a good job with the people who are embedded in the community. it's these people who feel ostracized from their own local communiti communities, who have deep political and social grievances, in many times these people will travel to yemen, afghanistan. >> you found that the muslim community has been taking active steps to fight radicalization. what are they doing? >> the kind of steps they're taking is that they are monitoring young people in their mosques, et cetera, when they see people speaking things and talking in radical ways and then

they counsel those people, if those are very difficult to get ahold of then they would also report such people, if they are suspicious looking individuals, report them to law enforcement and expel them from the community. there's also been an active step of advancing religious literacy. that's one of our recommendations in our report, we're asking muslim communities to up religious literacy so people understand the religion, questions of dogma and their own understanding is a complex one. part of the religious literacy also means there must be advanced political literacy in the united states. if you have grievances as an individual, there are ways in which you can remedy it in the united states and that is by joining the political process and not use violence or resort to terrorism. >> in terms of that monitoring, we saw that recently, the case of the five men from maryland who were arrested in pakistan when the council on islamic

relations went to the authorities. is there a general set of warning signs that somebody is becoming radicalized? or is it much more general? and also, do people in this country take inspiration from people like umar farouk abdulmutallab even though his operation was a failure? >> yeah, i mean, there's a lot of complexity to those questions, but first of all, you know, the nigerian, the underwear bomber as he's become known, is a hero even though he failed. in many ways because al qaeda promotes him as such using the internet. the fact that he did something and, you know, it wasn't political in nature, it was violent in nature. al qaeda's whole mantra is to convince you politics isn't the st. loui solution, you've got to go out and do something. so the fact that he failed isn't an issue for them. >> it used to be the parent had to worry whether the child was doing well at school, was

hanging out with the right crowd, wasn't into drugs or criminal behavior. this represents a whole new set of the concerns here. what suggestions would you have for parents in monitoring this and dealing with this? >> i think one of the most important things, parenting is becoming a much more serious responsibility. not just because you have muslim children but also because the world has become more more complex place. i think one of the important things is the parents must be able to talk to children about their own identities. one of the things we identify in our report is the question of identity politics, how people feel about themselves, their religion and how they feel discriminated, or the grievances they might have. it's very important parents talk to them about politics, religion, and make sure they don't get one kind of narrative about religion. because islam is a complex religion and there are different viewpoints, there's a spectrum of viewpoints, et cetera, and

those kids should be exposed to those complexities about religion and talking about them, ventilating them is much, much more important than keeping kids quiet, et cetera, and not allowing them to talk about their religious views. >> well, it's a very interesting and eye-opening report. thanks for being with us, appreciate you joining us. it's not fun. it's not pretty.

it's my dry skin, and it's deep down uncomfortable. [ female announcer ] new neutrogena moisture wrap body lotion goes deep to heal dry skin at the source. the breakthrough formula wraps and seals more hydration deep inside skin, so after 12 hours, skin's condition is improved 2x more than eucerin original. now i can heal on a deeper level. beautiful. [ female announcer ] new moisture wrap body lotion. neutrogena skin care. #1 dermatologist recommended.

it doesn't cover everything.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. 41 minutes past the hour. aviation security experts are in europe meeting today considering new rules, including the use of full body scanners. >> this after the tsa called on 14 countries to tighten security. great britain is not on the list, despite the fact that umar farouk abdulmutallab was not the first suspected terrorist with ties to the country. our phil black went to england where they've giving them a try and keeping a close eye on privacy rights. >> reporter: full-body scans are coming to the airports, the first of them will be in place within weeks and they'll be rolled out steadily across the country from there. here at manchester airport in

england, full-body scans are being trialed. but despite the government's strong support for the security upgrade, there are also strong concerns about the technology. here in britain and across europe as well. >> step forward, please. >> reporter: the british government has said body scanners will be rolled out at all british airports despite strong concerns over privacy. to protect his identity we won't show you this man's face. while we show you the image the machine produces. >> a couple items that i'd like to be highlighted up. >> in a nearby room, another security staff member can see through the man's clothes. >> potentially threat items, but if there's anything of interest it's going to show up, anything metal or on the body, i prefer to have a closer look at outside as a localized search. i'd definitely want a proper look at that one. >> you can see what we've got. >> back at the scanner, this is how suspect areas are identified so security staff know where to

look. >> your belt buckle's fine. turn around for me and show me what you've got. >> reporter: the airport says it's all done with privacy in mind. only one person looks at the images, they're never stored. the computer is bolted down and cameras, apart from the cctv above, are usually forbidden in here. >> okay, sir, step around, please. >> reporter: thank you. i have used these machines in other parts of the world. they are fast, not as intrusive as a full patdown, but in a room not far, there's someone looking at an image of me, well, pretty much naked. there are people who still have concerns about those images. some believe the i willages are so revealing they may breach child pornography laws. >> as far as anybody under the age of 18 is concerned, it's an offense to take an indecent image of any such person. and it is an offense whether or

not consent is given. >> face this direction for me. >> reporter: there are concerns about the scanner's effectiveness. ben wallace used to work for a company ma makes body scanners and he says they have weaknesses. >> it doesn't matter how many scanners you have around the world, it's not going to currently pick up what is being posed by al qaeda, plastic, liquid and chemical bombs. >> reporter: manchester airport used items the christmas bomb suspect is accused of smuggling on to his flight. its assessment? the items probably would have been detected. european countries are not united on these machines. britain and the netherlands are going ahead, other countries like france and germany have no intention of doing so and won't adopt the technology until their privacy concerns are resolved. john, kiran, back to you. >> phil black for us this morning. 44, almost 45 minutes after the hour now.

jacqui jeras is going to have more on the cold gripping the midwest and the south right after the break. and also in ten minutes, senator chris dodd of connecticut announcing yesterday he is not going to run for n,ut daughter who stole the spotlight as he was making that announcement. jeanne moos has this and other background distractions. i love winter.

with my subaru forester and its all-wheel drive... ... handling even the toughest conditions... is just another day at the beach. some people say it's the rich, world's bvolcanic soilcome from. that makes our potatoes so special. or maybe the pure water. whatever it is, idaho potatoes are a delicious part of a healthy diet.

with zero fat or cholesterol, and only 110 calories, and they taste great. a great value, only about ¢.25 each. always look for the grown in idaho seal. genuine idaho potatoes, from the best earth on earth. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 48 minutes past the hour, time

for your "a.m. house call." a new brain scan could give doctors advantage on figuring out whether someone has alzheimer's. it's called a different fuser tenser image, detecting changes in brain chemistry. the scan promises improved diagnosis of normal memory loss as well as alzheimer's disease. children who battled cancer are more prone to suffer health problems that put them at higher risk for heart disease. researchers say they're twice as likely to take medication for high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure. radiation treatment could be behind cardiovascular disease in cancer survivors. and mother who's took folic acid week 30 and beyond of their pregnancy find their kids could be at greater risk of developing asthma. the report is the first to make such a connection. researchers emphasis the study does not include supplement use in early pregnancy and it's too

soon to give women advice based on these results. it is puzzling because it's one of the big pushes to take folic acid even before you're pregnant to prevent neural tube problems and things like spina bifida. >> the best thing to do in these cases is talk to your doctor about it before you do anything. let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. jackie jarqui jeras is in the e weather center. >> it's just brutal out there and so unusual to have cold air stick around for this long. arctic high pressure is just diving down to the south, making its way towards the gulf coast, and it's going to continue to do that over the next couple of days. take a look at some of these temperatures into the southeast. in fact, temperatures here are so cold that the iguanas are falling out of the trees because they stiffen up in the cold temperatures. this is nearly unprecedented. the worst of this arctic air hits the southeast as they head

into tomorrow. we do have some cold conditions which continue across the area, and we're going to see that mixing with some moisture and bring some heavy snow to parts of the midwest. chicago, down towards st. louis, along i-70 there going to see rough conditions. if you're trying to travel today, we'll see winds in the northeast cause delays. the snow across the midwest, and then the deep south will see delays because of the wind here, and then that wintry mix that moves in. that is snow we're seeing across northern mississippi and northern alabama. we think that will move into georgia later on today. windchills dangerously cold. it can take your skin 15 to 30 minutes to freeze here in the upper midwest. tomorrow morning, even colder than today. and saturday morning will be the worst of it across the southeast and we'll finally start to warm up a little bit by the end of the weekend. >> finally, that's some good news. this morning's top stories are a few minutes away, including the top of the hour, two-thirds of the country as jacqui is saying understand a

deep freeze. temperatures are dropping further. >> a cnn exclusive, nic robertson went to talk to the family of the suicide bomber who killed seven cia employees in afghanistan. they say they didn't know until we did that he was working for al qaeda. >> at 7:40 eastern, is it a yoga cult? kyra phillips reports on a woman who was raped who devoted herself to the self-proclaimed prophet. get him a cart. wow! [ male announcer ] staples has low prices on everything you need for your office. staples. that was easy. on everything you need for your office. [ crowd gasps ] [ announcer ] if you think about it, this is a lot like most job search sites. - they let everyone in, - [ crowd groans ]

so the best people can't stand out. join theladders.com. the premium job site for only $100k+ jobs... and only $100k+ talent.

♪ 54 minutes past the hour, time now for the moost news in the morning. sometimes when there's a big announcement, it's really what's behind the scenes that keeps you fixated. >> case in point, the real star of the announcement yesterday with chris dodd. jeanne moos looks at the antics. >> reporter: sure you can tell everyone where to stand. but getting kids to stand still? good luck. >> i'm still driven by the same passions. >> reporter: we were more interested in what senator chris dodd's daughter was whispering. >> so many, many years ago.

>> reporter: than we were on his speech. 4-year-old christine had her hand on dad's soldier. >> wishing i could have seen. >> reporter: and on mom's nose. >> political shape of my career. >> reporter: and check out the older daughter going gaga at the mention of her name. >> that these young children of mine. >> reporter: when her dad kisses her, she wipes it off. judging from parting words, grace would rather be saving grace. >> i'm starving. i'm starving. >> reporter: but the man voters picked to be new jersey's next governor wasn't the only thing picked at his acceptance speech. we've seen enough of his son getting his hand up. remember chief john roberts' son? he made the papers from escaping his mom's clutches and crawling around as the president introduced his dad. >> he's a graduate of harvard law school. >> reporter: young jack

graduated to fancy foot work. >> after he was nominated for the court of appeals in 2001. >> reporter: jack had to be marched off the stage. >> i received good advice from both republicans and democrats. >> reporter: even older kids can't stand still. letterman made this kid famous. >> if you're worried about the quality -- >> we stand for the fair treatment of faith based groups to receive federal support. >> reporter: of course there was rudy giuliani's son all grown up now. but will he ever live down his dad's swearing in as mayor, blowing kisses, joining in the oath. >> it's one thing when your kids steal the show, but how about when it's a couple of koalas? tennis star andy roddick was talking to reporters at an australian koala sanctuary. who cares about the tennis court when you can watch koalas

courting? ♪ hold me in your arms >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> nature, ain't it wonderful? >> bees do it, bird dozen is do koalas do it. >> wow. >> wow. top stories coming your way. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com heck, i lost -- two sports legends, one simple way to lose weight and eat great: marino, shula, and nutrisystem for men. start your year off right. order now and you can get two weeks of meals free, plus, the all-new jumpstart kit, our secrets to ultimate weight loss. like i was saying, coach, with nutrisystem -- let's go to the video. dan "glam man" marino lost 22 pounds. don "blue suede" shula lost 32 pounds. and me, i did go all the way. whoop! 50 pounds thanks to nutrisystem. four out of five men say nutrisystem satisfies their hunger.

just set a goal. i reached my goal: 50 pounds, gone. and i owe it all to the coach. both: thanks, boomer. start your year off right. order now and you can get two weeks of meals free, plus, the all-new nutrisystem jumpstart kit. welcome to "american

morning," glad you're with us on this thursday, january 7th. almost coming up to 7:00 here in new york. i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm john roberts. here are the top stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes, it is the deep freeze that just will not quit. bitter cold temperatures still gripping the south and the midwest. record snowfall being recorded in the nation's heartland and it's not letting up any time soon. a cnn exclusive, our nic robertson traveled to jordan to talk to the family of the suicide bomber, the alleged double agent who killed seven c cia employees in afghanistan. they say they didn't know until the world found out. and a special investigation with kyra phillips this morning, the allegations of a former insider that says what happened with the founder of dahn head had nothing to do with yoga or spirituality. hear both sides of the story

coming up this hour. we begin with the arctic blast, the extreme cold that's taken hold in most of the country. all the blue you see on the map is where the windchill is below freezing this morning. from the west coast to the east, to the canadian border and all the way to the panhandle of florida. >> kansas city missouri waking up to heavy snow bands and temperatures in the teens. ten inches of snow could be on the ground by the end of the day. go further, south to texas, and the cold air is plunging this morning. people there hitting home improvement stores for insulation and portable heaters. temperatures in dallas in the 20s with snow showers. >> jacqui jeras is in the weather center in atlanta. first, to meteorologist rob marciano, joining us live from memphis, tennessee. these temperatures are proving deadly where you are. >> reporter: yeah, they certainly are. this morning, even though it's snowing lightly here in memphis, tennessee, it's about as warm as

it's been all week. the snow is not expected to be the big story, the cold air, which has been the big story for the past several days, will be the story for the next several days to come. be it a person or a home, things down south or in this case the midsouth just aren't made to handle this kind of extended period of cold weather. and from coast to coast, memphis isn't the only spot getting hit. much of the nation is in the grips of deadly cold. florida, battling its longest cold snap in 20 years. >> i feel like a block of ice. it was just that cold. >> reporter: further north, it's so cold chunks of ice float down the mississippi and in some spots it's completely frozen over. snow has been piling up from kansas city to the carolinas. here in memphis, at least three fatalities have been attributed to the bitter cold. so the sheriff's special

services unit volunteers are going door to door. >> you just stay inside until it's safe to go out there. we want to make sure that you're good, all right? >> okay. >> reporter: the mayor and memphis light gas and water cut a deal, to turn the power back on until the weather warms up. jackie moses had been without utilities for almost a year until now. >> i have lights now. my porch light is on, my kitchen light is on. oh, thank you. oh, i have lights. >> reporter: propane heaters and even burning charcoal inside to stay warm. a dangerous way to live. >> when you're trying to survive, you're not thinking of that hazard, you're thinking of surviving -- listen to that! >> reporter: what's that? >> heat! >> reporter: the sweet sound. >> that's heat. oh, my god. >> reporter: for now, she's grateful for getting to sleep in a warm home with even colder

nights on the way. >> thank you so much. thank you, thank you so much. >> reporter: when word got out there were fatalities because of the bitter cold and in some cases the people just being in their homes without heat, the mayor said we had to do something. they managed to turn on the power to 500 people who haven't been able to pay their bills because of economic problems the past -- well, the past, in her case, the past several months and for the past couple of years. the deal with this next batch of cold air, it's going to be colder than the last one. single-digit temperatures for the next two days in the morning. i don't know if you could see in the piece there, but when we walked into the house, it was colder in the house than it was outside. you could see her breath when she spoke. this morning, that's not the case, as at least temporarily the lights and heat turned back on. back to you in new york. >> it's sad to think, she was without utilities for a year and

then what happens after this freeze goes away, she still can't pay the bills. >> reporter: it's an ongoing struggle for sure, but at least in this coldest streak that they haven't seen in quite some time they're trying to give people some comfort at least to survive. >> yeah. rob marciano for us this morning, thanks. our coverage of the deep freeze continues with jacqui jeras, she's in atlanta tracking the extreme weather for us. any relief in sight for people like the woman rob was profiling? >> we have to be patient for it. early next week before temperatures start to modify. these people, you know, check on your neighbors, check on the elderly. give a friend a call and make sure everybody's doing okay in this cold and that they're getting the shelter and warmth they need. it really is dangerous. it can take 30 minutes or less to get frostbite and then longer than that to get hypothermia in these kinds of conditions. it is dangerous. look at that high pressure, that

arctic grip. everywhere behind that cold front, temperatures today are going to be averaging between 15 and 35 degrees below where you should be for this time of the year. now, ahead of it, that moisture is kicking in, along with strong, gusty winds. we could see near whiteout conditions across the midwest today. heavy snow in chicago. you could see between 6 and 12 inches of snow. there are the windchills across the country. if you think this is bad for this hour, wait until tomorrow morning. we think friday will be the worst of it across the nation's midsection and then saturday across much of the east. john and kiran back to you. even though the weather will no doubt go down in some record books, it can sometimes be a beautiful thing. here's a view from on top of mt. washington in new hampshire. the photo he was taken by meteorologist brian clark who mans the observatory up there, 365 days a year. it is the tallest mountain in the northeast, some 6200 feet

up. also the highest recorded wind speed in the united states. what a sight and what extreme weather up on mt. washington. >> just gorgeous to look at. in a few hours president obama will address the nation hours after the white house will release a declassified account of the missteps that allowed a nigerian man to board a christmas day flight to detroit determined to blow that flight up. umar farouk abdulmutallab has been indicted by a grand jury in michigan. deborah feyerick has more. >> reporter: the grand jury hand out, abdulmutallab expected to be arraigned in federal court tomorrow. among the charges? he used a weapon of mass destruction in an attempt to blow up a u.s. jetliner, also attempted murder of some 290 people who are on board of plane

at the time he detonated the device. new and significant in the indictment, that he used tatp, high explosive, that is a signature trademark of a number of terror suspects. also new this morning, a top yemeni official saying the suspect did indeed meet with the american born cleric anwar al awlaki, considered the bin laden of the internet. he was also in touch with the ft. hood shooter. abdulmutallab is no longer speaking, though when he was arrested he did make statements to federal authorities. yesterday robert gibbs said that information provided actionable intelligence, specifically that he received the device in yemen. also how to use it. also where he traveled. those locations including ghana, nigeria, yemen and, of course, amsterdam en route to detroit.

kiran? >> thanks. coming up on eight minutes after the hour, and other stories new this morning, the white house not abused over seeing president obama's image on a times square billboard. the administration says it will ask weatherproof to remove the ad because it was done without the white house permission. it shows the president wearing one of the company's jackettes while visiting the great wall of china. peta had an unauthorized ad using michelle obama. >> in this day in age you could photo shop anybody doing anything. >> he was wearing the coat, though. i've got one like it. >> maybe they'll put you up. a daring escape outside of a new york city politician. all of it caught on tape. he's the one below the person in the blue coat. he's a 22-year-old armed robbery suspect. he was able to slip out of the

handcuffs and went to the staten island ferry. responding officers were able to catch up with him, though. they were able to arrest him about 15 minutes later. here's the video once again, you can see walking, walking and then it just seemed so easy for him to get his hand out of there and he's gone. he did suffer a broken ankle in the jump. >> the so-called balloon boy's dad richard henne speaking to larry king for the first time since his guilty plea. he refused to say it was a hoax. >> we searched the house high and low sand -- i'm sorry. >> larry: it's okay. >> and i -- you know, after i saw him and i -- the craft, and bradford telling me he went

inside, i didn't believe bradford. i said, i just saw him. >> larry: so you believe your son was in the craft? >> i knew he was in the craft. >> larry: but you didn't know it, because he wasn't. >> in my mind. in my mind. there was no other place, because i visualized him, i yelled at him to not go in. >> henne says he pled guilty to save his wife mayumi from being deported to japan. watch the entire interview tomorrow on cnn. and recession scams. what to do if you find yourself a victim of one. christine romans says it's happened to many people, more than a million. better business bureau saying you've got to watch out for this.

i keep track of my entire business on this spreadsheet... and all of these. paid invoices go right here. bang! - that hasn't been paid yet. - what? - huh-uh. - all my business information is just a phone call away-- to my wife... who's not answering. announcer: there's a better way to run your business. intuit quickbooks online organizes your business in one place.

it easily creates invoices and helps you stay on top of your business anytime, anywhere. this is way better. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. 12 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. there is a lot of new information this morning about the suicide bomber, the alleged double agent who got past u.s. security and killed seven cia members in afghanistan. in a cnn exclusive, our nic robertson went to jordan to

speak with the bomber's family to find out why he went back to the other side. >> reporter: i'm meeting the father of the man alleged to have killed seven cia operatives in afghanistan. >> i am going to the mosque. >> reporter: what can you tell us about your son? >> now, no comment? >> reporter: why not? >> it is nothing sure. >> reporter: you don't know for sure. >> nothing sure. >> reporter: we're in a middle class neighborhood, it is late afternoon and he's going to the mosque for prayers at sundown. he promises to speak to us afterwards. >> after the prayers. >> reporter: after the prayers. okay. with two other journalists we knock at the front door to see if others will talk. someone just opened the door. the brother of the alleged bomber. you can't talk to us? he doesn't want to be on camera. but after a little time shares his concerns. >> he's my brother and he was

very good person. he suffers some huge pressures, we know this. >> reporter: he says his brother, a doctor, was angry about the war in gaza last year. volunteered his medical services, was questioned by jordanian intelligence officials, left the country soon after, telling the family he was going to turkey. that was the last they saw of him. a senior jordanian intelligence source told us al balawi went to pakistan, after he had been questioned about his radical internet postings. >> we know there is something wrong since he was not in turkey, so we say, where has this guy gone? we thought he was in gaza. >> reporter: then last week came the phone call no father wants to get. the day after the explosion at the base in afghanistan. so they called and said he's made a big operation in the cia base in afghanistan? >> it is bad news but this is what happened, so you have to deal with that.

that is exactly what they say. >> they said it's bad news? >> for you. >> they didn't say congratulations? >> they said this is what happened. >> reporter: by the time they come out of the mosque, it's dark. i want to ask him about the mystery phone call but at the door he's met by his son. they say intelligence services have been calling them. >> they called them 11 times. >> reporter: who did? >> the intelligence. >> reporter: have already called them since we knocked on the door. so in the space of being here a half hour, intelligence have called them 11 times. >> reporter: we have to leave. okay. it's a very, very sensitive issue. not only were seven cia operatives killed, but a jordanian officer, too, a cousin of the king. and this is the photograph of the man suspected of being behind this attack running in

the jordanian newspapers today. we've confirmed with medical sources here, this is a picture of al balawi when he became a doctor here in 2002. >> at the same time he was working with the cia he was continuing to post these radical statements on the internet? was nobody suspicious that potentially he wasn't what he was purporting to be to intelligence sources? >> reporter: what we're hearing from jordanian sources is they're not addressing that directly. in fact what they're saying is that because the cia is doing an investigation they don't want to say anything. but they are telling us about how the internet played a very vital role in him re-engaging with them. they're telling us when he went to pakistan, a few months later he sent e-mails to the government saying that al qaeda was -- had plans against jordan and against the united states, and then the government here, the intelligence agencies here

in jordan, along with the help of the united states, tried to lure him in to get more verification about these particular, so they're skirting around the issue. it is so sensitive. no one but no one wants to go on camera right now. >> he was helping the cia and had actually given them some targets that they went after. is there any kind of a sense there that this was just an elaborate plot that played out over time? or did he suddenly turn to the other side? >> reporter: i think there's an analysis here that this was something he had in mind when he first engaged in this e-mail conversation. i think a lot of people here are more inclined to believe that these web postings were his real feelings and that he was getting ready for something. i think the more we see of those postings, it will make it more

clear, john. >> nick r robertson, thanks so much. more questions about this and the failed attack on christmas day. we'll be talking to john negroponte, the director of national intelligence after 9/11. is the information sharing working the way it should be? [ female announcer ] new neutrogena moisture wrap body lotion goes deep to heal dry skin at the source. the breakthrough formula wraps and seals more hydration deep inside skin, so after 12 hours, skin's condition is improved 2x more than eucerin original. now i can heal on a deeper level. beautiful. [ female announcer ] new moisture wrap body lotion. neutrogena skin care. #1 dermatologist recommended.

21 minutes after the hour, that means it's time for "minding your business." >> we have christine romans with us and we've been talking a lot about things to look for, don't become a victim of scams. there's a lot more scams out there. >> and they're recession-specific scams. whenever there are people suffering and government money out there, we've seen councils for the better business bureau saying more than 1.3 million people have been suckered into these fake check scams. otherwise reasonable people are falling victim to these things. you might think you're too

smart, okay, you're too smart. talk to your elderly grandparents, your parents, talk to your college kids, your teenagers, making sure they know this shouldn't happen to them. these are scams. first, government grants. all this stimulus money out there. these companies that have popped up to say, look, for $199, i'll send you this package to help you get a government grant to help pay your bills. it's your personal bailout. wrong. there is not government cash for you to pay your bills. stimulus money is not available to you, if you pay somebody else money to get it. job hunters. you do not need to pay anyone to get you a job, to pay for the credit and background check, to pay for a list of job openings, pay a fee and get a job. that's not what they're trying to do. they're trying to get access to your bank account, your social security number, to steal your identity. be very careful about paying someone to get you a job, especially someone you don't know, you've never met. mortgage help. these foreclosure rescues are rampant.

there are people with very convincing pitches often that look like a real document from your bank, saying, you pay us, we'll save you. we'll help you avoid foreclosure. it's just not going to happen. you're being suckered. miss terry shopping, there are companies trying to woo you saying we need mystery shoppers. we need people to go under cover. we'll give you this check, you'll go to these stores. here's a list of stores, and you'll rate the stores and employees, part of our way of rating these companies. at the end, rate this money transferring business. so send us some money back. all this is about getting money back that isn't there in the first place and getting your hard-earned money out of your bank account. it's called being a secret shopper. don't fall for this work at home

secret shopper thing. never pay for government info. don't be fooled if someone gives you a follow up phone call. verify all businesses with the better business bureau and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. >> good advice. people are looking for anything in these tough time. >> people who otherwise wouldn't do it are doing it because they're desperate. there's no such thing as free money. >> christine romans watching out for you, christine, thanks. more and more kids are getting vaccines these days. who is, who isn't. we've got dr. sanjay gupta coming up in 20 minutes time.

my digestive system didn't always behave. [ thunder and cracks of lightning ] whatever i did, my digestive upsets came back. but then came align with bifantis. it helps build and maintain a healthy digestive system to restore my natural digestive balance and protect against occasional digestive upsets. align brings peace to my digestive system... ...and the money back guarantee brings peace to me.

♪ the top stories are just a couple minutes away, but first an "a.m. original," something you'll see only on "american

morning," skid row is one of the most infamous neighborhoods in america for all the wrong reasons. >> one resident is looking to change all that. jason carroll looks at the unofficial mayor of l.a.'s skid row. >> reporter: it's a haven for crime and the homeless. attracting thousands from all walks of life when their luck runs out. this is skid row, los angeles. >> not only are the people homeless, they're hopeless. >> reporter: jeff page landed here three years ago after his career as a rap promoter fizzled. a mission for the homeless became his new home. >> to actually be in the community for a long extent, period of time, and to say day after day after day the living conditions of the people here and how deplorable the conditions were, it really started to sink home of how close on that fine line i was to actually -- to becoming one of them. >> reporter: so he launched a one-man campaign to turn not only his life but his new world around. he started small. organizing street cleanups.

mural paintings. connecting with the community. >> i know you, i've seen you in the newspaper. >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: that's general, in case you missed it, a nickname the homeless have given him that's followed him to the downtown neighborhood council. elected two years ago, he's l.a.'s only homeless public official. >> i'm determined to succeed. i'm a finisher. i will see this through, no matter what the odds. >> reporter: but the odds are stacked against the general. in 2009 there were almost 1,000 violent crimes and more than 13,000 arrested in skid row and the surrounding area. while crime is down it's still dangerous. i want people to realize that even as we're walking through here, behind the photographer, we've got security here. so that's -- >> and that's a siren. >> reporter: right. you hear the sirens. but i think people need to understand that, even though you say skid row is better, it's

still far from where it needs to be. >> oh, no, of course. it's in -- we look at it, we're in the early stages, the beginning stages of the transition period. >> reporter: page has lobbied for shulters that can accommodate families and better relations with the police. the renovation of this park, a proud accomplishment. >> it was drug dealing, prostitution, murders, the beatdowns, the whole everything. >> reporter: page used his sales skims as a promoter and got sponsorship from nike to return the park to the people. >> they brought a whole lot of life to our positive movement. >> reporter: something as simple as a basketball court. now even l.a.'s mayor is paying attention. >> people like general jeff are saying we need more, and he's right. we need to provide for a safety net to address the hunger and homelessness. >> reporter: much like his own life, skid row still has a long road ahead to become the place general jeff envisions.

do you see skid row as a transitional place for you? because you are still living here. >> yes, i'm still here, but technically, no, because i'm here trying to plant roots and i'm trying to establish this as a kmuntd just like any other place in america. >> page is up for re-election this summer on the neighborhood council. at this point he's unsure if he'll run again. one thing he is sure about is that he will not stop finding ways to improve life for people there on skid row. >> so you can try to create a sense of community and you can have parks and increase the safety net. but until you have real economic opportunities how can you make the real changes? >> reporter: and that's one of the points he's trying to make, that's why he's unsure at this point if he'll run for re-election because he's thinking maybe i start a nonprofit group. maybe there's another organization i can start. there might be a better way. so he's still looking for ways, it's one of those things he's trying to grapple with as he tries to improve his own life as well. >> we'll keep watching him.

time for top stories, surveillance tape of the security breech at newark airport will be released this morning. frank lautenberg says it shows a man intentionally walking the wrong way through a check point. he also says you can clearly see a tsa officer was distracted and didn't notice the man. it took an observant passenger to finally speak up. a high speed train on its way to london stopped in its tracks for two hours inside the channel tunnel. the euro star is dealing with technical problems. thousands of passengers were stranded in the tunnel from a similar problem. and rents fell 3% last year while vacancies are at a 30-year high. the average rent in new york city is still about $2600, but other major u.s. cities are seeing significantly lower rents. some desperate landlords in houston are offering everything from starbucks cards to shamp

shampooing carpets to keep tenants. a clear picture of how suspected terrorist umar abdulmutallab slipped past security and nearly pulled off a plan to attack a christmas day flight. the white house plans to release an unclassified report on what went wrong and also to reveal new steps intended to thwart future attacks. john negroponte joins us, thanks for being with us this morning. >> good morning. >> national security adviser general james jones said something interesting, he said americans will feel a, quote, certain shock when they read the report about the missed clues. what do you make of that? >> i make two things. first of all, hindsight is 20/20 vision, so things always look much more evident looking backwards than they do looking prospectively. and second of course, they've had the terrorist in detention, and he presumably has been

cooperating, or at least partially so and has been providing lots of information. so the picture is going to look a heck of a lot more complete today than it did a couple weeks ago. >> well, you know, also the l.a. times is reporting that u.s. border patrol agents, security officials, learned of abdulmutallab's extremist links as he was airborne from amsterdam to detroit and decided to question him when he landed. what do you make of that, knowing that yet he was still able to fly but obviously he was on the radar of at least one of our intelligence -- you know, agencies? >> well, i don't know what to make of it, absent access to that report. but what i would say is that i think whatever information we had, it was probably partial and there were probably bits and pieces over a period of time, and in retrospect we're able to make a lot more sense out of it. but we'll just have to wait and

see with regard to the report. the thing -- one of the things that really interests me is whether or not this is part of a larger plot. he may have been planning to bomb this aircraft, but was this -- back in 1994 there was a bombing of a philippine airliner, flight 434, and that was a precursor to a plot a few days later, or early in the following year, to kill the pope when he visited the philippines and to blow up 11 airliners over the pacific ocean. so is there some bigger plot here. >> and do you think we'll get those answers, ambassador, in the way he's being tried and held? some say he needs to not be in a federal civilian system now, but maybe in a military tribunal so you can get more information from him. >> well, i wouldn't want to second guess our government on that thing, i think the important thing right now is we get as much information from him

as we can. and i think that that's certainly possible under the present circumstance. >> it's also possible, though, he could plead the fifth and his attorneys could say that he isn't going to be sharing information. >> well, he's being charged with some serious crimes and i think with all those witnesses on the airliner, i think he, you know, he certainly stands a chance of being convicted. >> you know, you were in this job. were you the first one that did this, director of national intelligence, some experts say it underscores the fact we just don't have the capacity to realistically manage the info we've been getting and have been getting since 9/11. are we expecting too much here? >> well, there's always a lot. we've got to remember, there's always a lot of noise in the system. and then you've got to sort out from that noise the signals that are really important. and sometimes we fail to do that. after all, intelligence is imperfect, as the president

himself said the other day, and it requires human beings to analyze whatever information they have and come to the right kinds of conclusions. my suspicion in this case is that there wasn't necessarily that much information and that there was quite a bit of ambiguity in whatever was available. in retrospect, it probably looks like we should have been able to figure out what happened. >> you guys are processing by some account 10,000 to 12,000 pieces of information, if you could improve that, what would you say? >> there's 500,000 people on this terrorism watch list and there are literally thousands of pieces of information that come over the wires constantly. i don't think there's any substitute for vigilance, integration of information, coordination between all the different agencies. i think that's the kind of reforms that took place after 9/11. i think that quite candidate ly

country is safer than before 9/11. we dodged a bullet, no doubt about it, but fundamentally the country is safer than it was ten years ago. >> john negroponte, former director of national intelligence, thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. coming up now on 37 minutes after the hour. a yoga cult, we've got part two of kyra phillip's investigation into the head of dahn yoga. guys, start the year off right!

lose weight and "jumpstart" your year. any guy any age can do this. introducing the all-new jumpstart kit from nutrisystem. i'm dan marino, and i lost 22 pounds with nutrisystem. that's me 32 pounds ago. i feel like i'm 10 years younger. order now and get the jumpstart kit, specially designed to put you on the fast track to awesome weight loss. i did go...all...the...way! i lost 50 pounds with nutrisystem for men. nutrisystem is based on the proven science of the glycemic index that helps you feel fuller longer. for about $12 a day, you'll get 28 days of fantastic meals. fifty years old and back to my playing weight. order now and you can get two weeks of meals free, plus, the all-new jumpstart kit, our secrets to put you on the fast track to ultimate weight loss, based on more than 35 years of proven science. jumpstart your weight loss with nutrisystem. order now and jumpstart your year. call or click now.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. we're continuing a special investigation into a nationwide chain of yoga centers. some former members are now accusing this organization of actually being a cult. >> one former member and employee says the founder sexually assaulted her. dahn yoga and its founder deny it all. many of its current employees are e-mailing cnn defending the group. kyra phillips is here with part two of her special investigation. >> reporter: jade harrellson says she was honored by the extra attention paid to her by ilchi lee, the founder of dahn

yoga. he even gave her the spiritual name of dahn su lee. >> he was never god-like but he was prophet-like, so i took his word as holy almost. >> reporter: he encouraged followers to think of him as a prophet. listen to him in the spring of 2009 as he compared his book "brain wave vibration" to the bible. >> brain waive vibration is a scripture. it's a holy scripture. do you all understand? >> reporter: jade harrellson says she not only understood, she believed. even following her new guru to seoul, south korea, at his request, and to his apartment every time he called for her. you trusted him. >> i trusted him. >> reporter: were you attracted to him? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: but that vanished

in 2007 propelling this devotee into a life-changing world of doubt. >> he just slowly took my clothes off of me and pushed me where he wanted me to go. and i numbly, like a robot, just responded. >> reporter: why didn't you tell him to stop? >> i had been so taught and trained that he was a holy person, a holy object, and he was my connection to divinity. and again, just to say no to him and to refuse him was to refuse everything that i wanted for myself. >> reporter: harrellson concedes she never filed a police report and waited two years to file a civil suit. we asked for an on-camera interview with ilchi lee and were turned down. so we followed him here to the grand opening of mago earth park

near sedona, arizona, and this 39-foot statue representing what his followers call the soul of mother earth. we just want your response to the allegations. we want your side of the story, sir. our cnn photographer who speaks korean translated. lee tells me this is the first time i'm hearing of such accusation. please don't touch me. please don't touch me. then his bodyguards knocked down the camera. lee's lawyer later told cnn all claims of sexual assault are false. >> mr. lee has denied all those allegations and we are confident that we will get those claims dismissed in court. >> reporter: then, there's what happened to julia. >> until this day, we're still affected by this. i just can't describe the pain. >> allan is talking about his sister, julia, a 41-year-old

college professor who grew up in new york city projects. she thought she found purpose in the teachings of ilchi lee. >> she saw some positive things about the spirituality, the growth, the opportunity to share with the world. >> reporter: so julia dedicated herself to dahn yoga, eventually making her way here to its exclusive retreat, tucked away among the beautiful red rocks of sedona, arizona. she wanted to achieve its highest honor, the rank of dahn master. to do that, she would have to prove her worthiness in more than words. it was just after 9:00 a.m. on a blistering hot july day that julia came out to this mountain with other dahn yoga members to take on a hike. it was all to show their strength and mental fortitude. however, julia wasn't doing so well. matter of fact, i talked to the off duty sheriff's deputy that

saw her that day. he said she was struggling and looked, quote, mentally handicapped, and at times other hikers had to drag her along this mountain by her armpits. julia never finished that dahn yoga hike on this mountain that day. she died here. dahn yoga settled out of court with the family and sheriff's investigators say they found no evidence of criminal wrong doing. >> it was an unfortunate hiking accident. >> reporter: but for the family, too many details surrounding julia's death on this mountain remain a mystery. now, as for julia's cause of death, the medical examiner says that she died of both dehydration and exposure to the elements. as for dahn yoga, its website boasts an impressive list of politicians and others who applaud the work of ilchi lee. we've been flooded with comments from viewers pro and con.

>> so her family considers her death a mystery, why? if it was dehydration that killed her. >> i talked with an off duty police officer who witnessed her that day. also according to the police report, she died at about 9:00 a.m., but the 911 call wasn't made until a little after 4:00 p.m. that's about seven hours. however, dahn yoga insist that's there was no delay in calling for help. so to the family they're wondering what happened in that seven-hour period. >> and you also talk in your piece about the "brain wave vibration" in the book. what is that? >> that's what we all were wondering. so we did more investigation into it. couldn't really get a clear idea of whether it was proven science or not. so of course we went to our cnn's dr. sanjay gupta, sat down with him. in one word, this is what he told me. have you ever heard of brain education or brain wave vibration? >> never heard of it. >> reporter: there you go,

bottom line. so tomorrow we investigate, is this proven science or not, and as you can see by dr. sanjay gupta, he has a lot to say about whether it really does -- if he's seen proven fact that it does help ailments like diabetes and lazy eye and multiple scleros sclerosis. >> made a lot of claims. >> reporter: exactly, if you look at the website. >> good piece this morning. jacqui jeras is going to head the travel forecast after the break. >> and it's time for an "a.m. house call." this morning sanjay brings u.s. a study of childhood immunizations. who's getting them, who's not. would you like a pony ?

yeah. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww ! that's fun ! you didn't say i could have a real one. well, you didn't ask. even kids know when it's wrong to hold out on somebody. why don't banks ? we're ally, a new bank that alerts you when your money could be working harder and earning more. it's just the right thing to do. some people say it's the rich, world's bvolcanic soilcome from. that makes our potatoes so special. or maybe the pure water. whatever it is, idaho potatoes are a delicious part of a healthy diet. with zero fat or cholesterol, and only 110 calories, and they taste great. a great value, only about ¢.25 each. always look for the grown in idaho seal.

genuine idaho potatoes, from the best earth on earth.

we're coming up on 50 minutes past the hour. we are following extreme weather across most of the country. >> we have a fast-moving system across the nation's midsection today making its way towards the east and behind it the big blast of arctic air. the snowfall accumulations are not much more than you can handle across the midwest, but the winds are really blowing. check out the pictures from wichita, kansas, from yesterday, and it paints the picture of windy conditions. this is along i-70.

lots of accidents caused because of the icy conditions here, but no serious injury, so good news. windchill will be well below zero throughout the day for today. and if you are traveling in this stuff, it will cause problem on the roadways and airways. and here is the picture where the frigid air is diving all the way down to the gulf of mexico. behind the front, temperatures are going to be about 15 to 25 degrees below average. the worse of it moves into the southeast by saturday morning, and finally a little bit of a warm up by early next week. >> thank you, jacki. there are new details about the explosive he brought onboard.

and how many times did we hear it would be on c-span? talks about the future health care behind closed doors. we will ask a leading democrat whatever happened to transparen transparency? 6 alka-seltzer plus. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[ john ] like most of us on the force, i work with a partner. this is mine, blitz. i can't do this job without him. and he can't do it without me. to keep him at his best, i only feed him eukanuba... with prebiotics to promote strong defenses. you know, he means the world to me for a lot of different reasons. he's more than a partner. he's family. [ female announcer ] ask an expert at your pet store which formula is best for yo. welcome back to the most news in the morning. when it comes to childhood vaccines controversy has been a big problem for many parents. now a study shows the number of

kids vaccinated against things like measles and mumps and increased. do you think that has to do with the study about the link between vaccines and autism? >> well, it seems to be more of two things. increasing access, specifically physical access to things like wellness clinics, and also trying to address the problem of the under and uninsured children as well. and these studies point to s-chip and vaccines for children both implemented back in the 1990s. take a look specifically at the numbers here. these numbers may be surprising

to some people and maybe not as much as others. but in 2000, you can see the number bouncing around. 72% now in 2008. and those numbers have gone up quite a bit. more specifically, the gaps between wealthy and poor. the gaps between children who live in urban versus other areas. one thing you will find interesting quick, john, is among families, the children that have the lowest immunization rates are the youngest children, and parents focus so much attention, a lot of medical attention to the first child, but by the time the third or fourth child comes around they are not quite as diligent. families that have one child have the best immunization

rates. >> will they continue over the health care bill is hashed out in congress? >> well, look at the senate bill versus the house bill. both bills seem to cover what are known as well child visits. you go to the doctor for a physical exam and regular siz it, those will be covered. vaccinations will be covered with no copay as well. and that is not as specifically spelled out in the house bill. but the details are still being worked out. but at least in one version it is covered in its entirety. it's 57 minutes past the hour.

good morning. thank you for being with us on this thursday, january 7th. >> first in a few hours, the american public will get a detailed look at the events that led a suspected terrorists slip through security and nearly blow up on plane on christmas day. one government official calls it shocking. >> democrats may be close to a compromise agreement on health care reform. leaders meeting privately with the president. it's beginning to look like a

public option may not be an option when all is said and done. jeff page found himself living on the streets of skid row. that was three years ago. now this homeless resident is on a mission to turn america's most destitute area into something americans can be proud of. >> a true a.m. original. and the white house now disputing a "los angeles times" report saying security officials learned information on umar farouk abdulmutallab while the flight was en route. >> yeah, that's right. people inside the administration feel the "los angeles times"

story you are talking about was over written and suggests the u.s. government was this close to perhaps stopping the suspect and perhaps even learned new information while the plane was in midair from amsterdam to detroit. while it's true that as we have all known for sometime prior to december 25th, this was bits and pieces of information the u.s. government had about abdulmutallab, but the official says, quote, there was no new information that emerged when the plane was in the air. all that happened is customs and border protection followed their checks. they were going to ask him questions after he landed, and why they did not stop him in amsterdam first.

as it has been widely reported, abdulmutallab was not on a terror watch list and that's one of the failures the president will be talking about today. that's in part why this report is coming out so quickly. this administration realizing with all of the leaks flying around about various bits and pieces of information, they have to get their narrative out there and figure out what did go on and be direct with the american people so they can show them, look, you can fix things, because there is a lot of uncertainty about what the government knew and what the government will do moving forward to make sure the aviation system in particular in this country is safe, karen. >> there have been some in the reporting today, not only on that article, but the other leaks have you been talking about underscoring the fear that some of the agencies have to say i do not want to fall on our lap, and the 16 agencies that

make up our intelligence community, will there be heads that roll over what happened? >> well, the american people heard the president say back in hawaii that he will get accountability at all levels of government, and he talked about systemic and human failures. so far we only heard about the systemic failures, and screening systems that may not be working, but we have not heard about individuals, the human failings the president talks about. maybe their various bureaucracies that don't want to take the game, but sooner or later one of the reports will have to layout who missed something and who is going to do something about it, whether somebody will have to step down because of it or somebody will have to radically reform their agency. >> ed henry for us at the white

house this morning. thanks. the terror suspect met with a radical muslim cleric. hi, deb. >> the american-born cleric, al-awlaki, served as an ae mum in the washington, d.c. area, and is now believed to be hiding in yemen. and the cleric is also connected to the ft. hood shooter who was charged with killing 13 people. now, the official said this morning that the two men met about 180 miles outside the capital. it's not clear when abdulmutallab met with the cleric, but it is clear abdulmutallab was in yemen between august and december of this year -- of 2009.

that's where he got the device and instructions on how to use it. abdulmutallab is scheduled to be arraigned here in detroit, and he is facing multiple charges including using weapons of mass destruction, and attempting to bring down a jet liner christmas day and to kill all 209 people on the plane. it's going across the globe, really, in many countries where abdulmutallab is believed to have visited, and all in full swing and he is expected to be in court tomorrow to hear the charges. >> is there any thought being given to sitting down and talking to al-awlaki? >> reporter: apparently this cleric was the target of a strike in yemen around december 17th. it's not clear whether in fact he survived the attack, but he is believed to be hiding there. what makes him so dangerous, is

he is considered a rock star of the internet, the bin laden of the internet. he is insighting young muslims to jihad. he is on the radar as to who is he and who he is meeting with. for him to be linked to two people, not only to the nigerian that will be here tomorrow, but also the ft. hood shooter. he is really on the radar now. there is concern that the airport security measures could unfairly target muslims. the request comes after a muslim woman claimed she was singled out by screeners when she was put through a full body pat down

when she refused to remove her religious head cover. this is the 36-year-old doctor from jordon. al qaeda's number three man is claiming credit for an attack calling it revenge. one of the cia employees that died was part of a unit that had been tracking bin laden. it's the deep freeze that will not loosen its grip on the midwest. rob marciano is in memphis, tennessee, and it's not typical weather this time of year and actually costing people their lives? >> reporter: yeah, it's the coldest weather they have seen in over a decade. the prolonged number of days that they have been in the cold snap and a reinforcing shot to come through. certainly a bit surreal.

the heavier snow is to the north of us. chicago could see maybe up to 10 inches of snow. and then the reinforcing shot of frigid air that will be driving south on this. and this will be 5, if not 10 degrees colder as it goes to the government of mexico and to florida and the mexican border. we will have more from memphis as the widespread cold snap continues. it has been surreally cold here, and we will have a personal story in about 30 minutes. back to you, guys. >> thank you. the health care debate. we are in the new year and we have versions passed by the house and the senate. now they have to bring them together and reconcile the differences. they typically do that in a conference committee, but not this time. negotiations going on behind the doors, and a lot of people on the left and right are upset about that. we will talk about what is going

on coming up next. it's nine minutes after the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. house senate democrats are meeting behind doors this week to hope to get a deal done before the end of the month and the president's state union address. and many are questioning the president's campaign promise of an open and transparent government. joining me now is congressman chris van hallen. thank you for being with us. typically when a bill passes the house and then the senate to be reconciled, it goes to the conference committee, but that's not happening this time. it's going to be private meetings behind closed doors. people are wondering if this is a good thing for democracy?

>> that's not the usual process. as you know many times in the house and senate, we will take up a bill passed by the other body and make amendments to that bill and send it back. that process is used just as frequently and it's just as appropriate as using a conference committee. the transparency in the process is a separate issue. whether you use the conference committee process or associated conference, we are committed to make sure we continue to be public about what is going on. this bill, as you know, has been subjected to an unprecedented degree of public scrutiny. we have had thousands of town hall meetings around the country. we have had hundreds of witnesses and hundreds of amendments, whatever develops through the discussions will be subject to public scrutiny, and everybody will have an opportunity to debate it and vote on it.

the transparency is distinct from what vehicle you use for looking at the bills. >> the president's pledge to shine a bright light on the health care negotiations. let's listen to what the president said back then. >> what we will do is is have the negotiations televised on c-span so people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who is making arguments on behalf of the drug companies. >> what happened to this promise? >> the negotiations have been going on since the beginning of this bill, john. as you know, we have had negotiations, and they unfold in the hearing process and unfold during the markup process, and as we now try to reconcile the house and senate bill, there

will be an on going public discussion. i can assure you on a daily basis, the press will be getting updates on what is happening and to the extent things can happen in a public forum, they will. can you have a conference committee where the conference committee show up at the last minute and sign the conference report. that would be a more closed forum than if you did the amendment process in a more open way. i think it's important to focus on the question of openness and transparency, and not get sidelined on what form is used on the negotiations. they can be subject to abuse and not enough scrutiny, or it could be more open. this is going to continue to be an open process. i think the american people have been very engaged in the debate and that strengthens the product, and we made multiple changes because of the town hall meetings. >> people are hearing what you are saying and what the

leadership on the democratic side is saying, but they are not buying it. let me read to you this comment. >> obama has now broken his promise, first by cutting secret deals with the drug industry and now by endorsing a plan to hold final negotiations behind closed doors. i should point out that's not a republican that is writing that, it's a progressive columnists. how do you respond? >> we have an obligation to make sure all the issues being discussed by members of congress are fully disclosed to the public so people can have input through the process. but the vick vehicle you use doesn't necessarily lend itself more to transparency than the other. the reason we decided to go for the amendment process was not

because people wanted to hide the ball at all. the fact is we saw what happened in the senate with the filibuster rule. and there is wide consensus that -- not a consensus but a fact that the republicans used that. they said they wanted to break the president by defeating health care and by going the alternate route you provide much more opportunities for republicans that made it clear that they oppose reform period to slow down the process through procedural tricks. >> no question that they are targeting it, and they have released memos saying we think there is vulnerable democrats here, but some of the democrats are not happy about the process and the vehicle, as you say. they were hoping to make improvements to this once it got into committee.

>> they think a shroud has been dropped on the process, and they think you are trying to jam this thing through using the amendment process. >> yeah, i think all americans agree we get it back. there are goals we have in time to get this done, but the most important thing is to get it right. the democratic caucus, even though we are not in washington right now already had one tell conference wherever member had an opportunity for input. we have another one today. so every member will be able to talk to his or her constituents and provide information. the amendments we arrive at are

subjected to all the public scrutiny and will also be available for discussion, and then you have a thorough vetting of them, and people have to vote up or down on these things. on this age of the internet, even if there was people that wanted to hide things, which is a huge mistake, no way. it would be counter productive for people to believe they can cut the deal behind closed doors and nobody will find out about it. i can tell you on behalf of our members, that obviously would be a huge mistake, and that's why people will be committed to make sure these things are thoroughly vetted, because at the end of the day it goes on the internet, and everybody has a chance to inspect it, and there would be nothing worse than having some secret deal that nobody knew about and then was exposed at the end of the day. that doesn't do anybody any good at all. we will committed to continuing an open process. it has been open.

town hall meetings and internet review all have improved the bill. >> we'll be watching. good to catch up with you this morning, thank you. >> good to be with you. coming up, rent prices are going lower and lower. we will talk about why it's a renter's market right now. 19 minutes past the hour. my digestive system didn't always behave. [ thunder and cracks of lightning ] whatever i did, my digestive upsets came back. but then came align with bifantis. it helps build and maintain a healthy digestive system to restore my natural digestive balance

and protect against occasional digestive upsets. align brings peace to my digestive system... ...and the money back guarantee brings peace to me.

♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. it's 21 hours past the hour. we have christine romans with us this morning. if you are not in the market to buy a home but maybe to rent, it

may be your time. >> 8% of apartments, the most in 30 years, are vacant. why? beginning a few years ago, a lot of people became first-time home buyers. very easy to get loans. people built these big apartment towers, and now you have people losing their jobs, so they are moving in with friends. young people are not renting the way they used to. you have a huge flood apartments, and rents are falling. let me walk you through why it's a renter's market. the biggest increase in tucson, charlotte, and lexington, kentucky. and rents falling on average 3%, but leading the decline, san francisco, california, and in san jose, and seattle, washington. seattle, $937 a month.

san francisco, 1,717. new york, 2,626 per month. interesting, rent fell in new york city more than it did after the september 11th attacks, because so many people were moving. that's amazing to me. 60% of new york city area lowered their rents in the fourth quarter. have you thousands and thousands of buildings and apartments coming into the market. you have seen them. they were built with easy money. can you get free carpet cleaning and free coffee makers and free dog walking in some places, and free gym memberships, and sign a year and a half lease and only pay a year. >> gone are the days where you have to pay somebody for finding you a place to live in in the

city. >> yeah, and it's like 50 stories fall, and a lovely one-bedroom apartment, southwest exposure, two balconies, and they still want the sky for it, $7,500 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. >> the economy is not that good, yet. >> so i turned around and walked out. >> yeah, not just new york. this is happening all across the country. a renter's market, boys and girls. >> in most places. >> yeah. and now you have heard about the incident where one of the players admitted about bringing weapons into the locker. and what is next? are their lessons learned when it comes to the nba's bad boys.

happy new year! welcome to progressive.com! this place is hoppin'! ah, it's resolution sea0ñn! well, my resolution -- save money. last year, millions of people visited progressive.com, and those who switched saved an average of over $350. no wonder it's like a party in here. [ blows horn ] [ blowing rhythm on horn ] [ rhythm continues ] i wrote that. starting the new year with savings -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. wait. fedex has ground shipping? oh, that's right. you just woke up from a 23-year coma. yeah, it was a long one. did i miss anything? uh, the cold war ended. [ man ] pluto's no longer a planet. culture club broke up. the berlin wall came down.

wait. the club broke up? i never saw them live. that was too soon. what have i done? [ male announcer ] we understand. you need it there fast. fedex ground.

27 minutes after the hour, and that means it's time for an "a.m." original. now, l.a.'s only homeless elected official made it his mission to clean up a notorious area. >> yeah, and he convinced corporate giant nike to help. this is an "a.m." original. >> it's a haven for crime and the homeless. this is skid row, los angeles >> not only are the people homeless, but they are hopeless.

>> jeff page landed here three years ago after his career as a rap promote er fizzled. >> and to actually see day after day the living conditions of the people here and how deplorable the conditions were, and it started to sink home of how close on the fine line i was to actually becoming one of them. >> he launched a one-man campaign to turn around his life and his world around. he organized street clean ups, and paintings. general is a nickname the homeless gave him, and that followed him to the neighborhood council. he is the only homeless public official. >> i am a finisher.

i will see this through no matter what the odds. >> in 2009, there was almost 1,000 violent crimes and more than 13,000 arrests in skid row and its surrounding area. while crime overall is down, it's still dangerous? >> i want people to realize, even though we are walking through this, we are not alone. we have security here. >> now you here sirens. >> i think people need to understand that even though skid row, you say, is better, it still is far from where it needs to be? >> yeah, of course. and we look at it as we are in the erm stages, the beginning stages of the transition period. >> page lobbied for shelters that can accommodate families and better relationships with the police. the finest accomplishment? >> the renovation of the park

here. >> prostitution and murders and everything. >> he got nike to return the park to the people. >> they breathe add whole lot of life to the positive movement. >> something as simple as a basketball court? >> yeah. now the mayor is paying attention. >> yeah, he is right, we need to provide for a safety net to address the hunger and homelessness. >> but skid road has a long road ahead to be the place the general envisions. >> you are still living here that. >> yes, i am trying to establish this as a community, just like any other place in america. >> and page is actually up for re-election for the summer for the neighborhood council and he is unsure he will run again.

one sure he is about is he will not stop trying to improve the ways of skid road. >> given the way this man presents himself, i have every reason to believe that is true. >> thank you. the national security adviser saying the details will shock some americans. the report on the intel failures on the attack on christmas day is coming up. we had the information to stop it but the intel did not connect the dots. yemen is now confirming the christmas bomber met with the radical cleric there. that cleric is also linked to the ft. hood shooter. the white house not amused overseeing president obama's image on a times square billboard. it will to be asked to remove

the ad because it was used without permission. david stern coming down on washington's wizards star coming down on gilbert arenas. it will cost the player money, and he is under the investigation and may have criminal charges. >> good morning. >> we had commissioner stern announce the indefinite suspension yesterday. what do you think the future holds for gilbert arenas in the nba? >> it's a tricky situation right now. a lot will depend on the investigation going on and what the penalties are. what surprised me is the quickness of the indefinite suspension.

i think the nba wanted to wait and see what the results of the investigation were, but gilbert arenas had all the actions and the tweets, what he did before tuesday's night game that caught the attention of the nba and made him say you know what, we need to suspend him now. >> why would they wait when many people say he violated the collective bargaining agreement, you cannot bring guns into the arena, and d.c. law. he admitted he brought guns, and whether or not the charges were there, he violated the league's policies, so why wouldn't he be suspended? >> with a lot of the leagues, they want the investigation to take its course, because a player can say to the player association, i was wrongfully suspended because the investigation was not finished. sometimes they want to avoid that, and they say let's see if there are charges or an indictment and then they can

make the move. and it's like the behavior of gilbert arenas provoked the nba. >> i want to show the picture. this is what we are talking about. it was featured prominently in the "washington post." it shows gilbert arenas on his knees looking like he is shooting and his teammates are laughing. it appears that he is having a fun, a high, old time. what type of message does that send in the wake of the seriousness of bringing the guns to the arena? >> yeah, it sends a bad message. when it first happened he came out with a statement that said i am sorry and cooperating with the authorities. that's all you need to say. at that point he had tweets, and it was like he was making light of it. and then to do that at the beginning of the game, it's like

you are flaunting it for a lot of people, and it makes people think is this important to him and is it important to the nba? that's why they had to act. >> and karl malone came down hard on gilbert arenas and the nba. he said the nba needed to take action, and people like reverend al sharpton saying you cannot make light of the situation. let's hear what karl malone said. >> any other person out there that would take a firearm to work would probably be terminated. no questions asks. i commend nfl and basketball, because they have almost zero tall yuolerance tolerance. >> is there a double standard when it comes to star players in professional sports? >> i think that's a great point. a lot of instances, you would be

terminated. but you have an agreement where the nba has leeway, but they want to make sure they are trying to find out everything about the investigation. i will tell you this, he makes a good point that they would be fired. and there are also criminal charges. if they were unlicensed handguns brought, theres potential jail time. the fact of the matter is, i think this could have been handled by saying we will cooperate with investigators and let that play its course and then the nba would have said let's determine appropriate action at that point. >> yeah, this is a team that used to be the washington bullets, and i grew up watching that. a lot of these guys are certainly heroes to the kids that watch them. we will have to see how the criminal aspect plays out. ryan smyth, always great to talk to you and thanks for being here. >> thank you, karen. we are learning more about the suicide bomber, the double

agent that took out seven cia operatives in afghanistan. and we are talking exclusively with the bomber's family. but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists. [ bottle two ] bro, will you relax? i'm pretty sure there's not much we can do about it. ugh. he's not even trying. he is actual magic. not impressed. [ gasps ] no!@i i didn't even know that could get dirty! can we even clean a leather shoe? what do you mean? what is a shooee? he's cleaning things that we don't even know what they are. gloves? brush? chime in any time here. [ male announcer ] effortlessly removes more grime per swipe.

clean all around the house with the mr. clean magic eraser extra power.

we are getting our first look at the double agent that killed seven workers in afghan tan. sources are confirming this is a picture of the 37-year-old doctor from jordon. we spoke to his family to find out why he went back to the other side. nick joins us. >> reporter: what he is alleged to have done is a very sensitive issue here. what we did is go to his family to try and find out more. i am meeting the father of the man alleged to have killed seven cia operatives.

what can you tell us about your son? >> no comment. >> reporter: why not? >> there is nothing sure. >> reporter: you don't know for sure? it's late afternoon, and he is going to the mosque for prayers at sundown. he promises to speak to us afterwards. with two other journalists, we knock at the family's front door to see if others will talk. the brother of the alleged bomber. he doesn't want to be on camera, but after a little time, he shares his concerns. >> he was my brother and he was a very good business. he says his brother, a doctor, was angry about the war in gaza last year, and volunteered his medical services, and was

questioned by jordanian officials and he told the family he was going to turkey. that was the last they saw of him. somebody else told us he waent to pakistan. then last week came the phone call no father wants to get, the day after the explosion at the base in afghanistan. >> so they called and said he made a big operation in the cia base in afghanistan? >> they said it was bad news for you. >> they did not say congratulations? >> no, they said this is what happened, here is a hero.

>> i want to ask him more about the mystery phone call, but the door he is met by his son. jordon intelligence services have been calling them. >> who called them 11 times? >> the intelligence. since we came. intelligence called them 11 times. they don't want to talk and we have to leave. it's a sensitive issue, not only with officers killed, but a jordanian officer, too, a cousin of the king. >> the family also told us that they feel the son was under a huge amount of pressure. they feel that questioning he had with the jordanian intelligence officials may have been what directly led him on the path he was on to go and be an operative for them. they are very, very confused right now, john.

>> good job on getting his family to speak. good job. 2two thirds of the country under bitter cold. that's coming up.

you love this song or hate

it. there is no in between. john is so happy playing it. a huge miley cyrus playing. sunny and 36 degrees right now. it's nice out there if you are looking at it from inside. rob marciano is in memphis, actually, this morning. how funny, we played miley cyrus, right before her daddy, billy ray, a huge country star. can you hear us, rob? >> reporter: yeah, country? the king of the blues? bb king. the king himself, elvis, they all reside in memphis, tennessee. to see snow on beil street is surreal. first up the mississippi, mighty parts of the river frozen over.

the big story is not going to be the snow but the cold air and the prolonged cold air that we have seen not only here but across the south has been the main issue. you have people not used to this weather and homes are not built for this weather. yesterday alone the city went around to turn on the heat for homes when people have not been able to pay. that theme has been echoed across the south as the weather continues to be cold. near zero for low temperatures are beginning tomorrow. back up to you. >> rob, thank you so much. is there a heart risk in low vitamin d levels in african-america african-americans. sanjay gupta has that story coming up.

♪ take me home ♪ take me home ♪ to my family ♪ ♪ i need to be surrounded by ♪ the ones who care for me [ female announcer ] clean you can see. softness you can feel. tide with a touch of downy. ♪ take me home

welcome back to the most news in the morning. a new study may explain why more black patients die of heart disease, and it has to do with, of all things, vitamin d. our chief medical correspondent is with us this morning. what is this all about? >> people are trying to figure out why the disparities exist between heart disease and between blacks and whites. one thing they focused on for

sometime is some simple light exposure may be one reason. they realize that blacks, especially blacks that live further away from the equator and specifically are getting lesson -- less sunlight exposure. it may have to do with sunlight they are absorbing in the skin. you need 400 international units per day according to federal guidelines. and there are a lot of researchers that study vitamin d are taking it themselves, and you can take up to 10,000 without having harm in the body. it seems to be clear, blacks, because they are absorbing less sunshine probably need to take more. >> what is the relationship here?

vitamin d has to do with strengthening bones, and what does it have to do with heart disease? >> exactly. not everybody is buying into more vitamin d can fight heart disease. one of the buzz words here is inflammati inflammation. vitamin d seems to suppress the amount of inflammation in the body. that's mainly in animal studies and it has not been proven in humans. and more vitamin d leads to less inflammation. that's a very fertile area of research. >> there is a problem a lot of people are not getting enough vitamin d. and putting sun screen on cuts down on vitamin d exposure. how can people be assured of

getting enough vitamin d every day? >> i think there is a way to test for this. if you are concerned about this, can you get a derivative of vitamin d checked in your blood. you don't need to remember the name, but remember the number. 30 nano grams per milliliter. getting outside and getting real sun for 20 minutes a day will give you 20,000 international units, far more than you need. getting a little bit, even for the kids, not a bad idea. >> you don't have to remember the 2500 droxi vitamin de? >> no, just remember 30. >> thank you. sometimes going behind or over shoulder of some is what is

most important. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at $4.95 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. i was just in town for a few days, and i was wondering if i could say hi to the doctor. is he in? he's in copenhagen.

oh, well, that's nice. but you can still see him! you just said he was in... copenhagen. come on! that's pretty far. doc, look who's in town. ellen! copenhagen? cool, right? vacation. but still seeing patients. oh. [ whispering ] workaholic. i heard that. she said it. i... [ female announcer ] the new office. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco.

sometimes, you know, when there is a big announcement, it's what happens behind the scenes that keeps you fixated. >> chris dodd announced yesterday that he was not going to seek re-election. >> reporter: sure you can tell everybody where to stand, but getting kids to stand still? good luck. we were more interested in what chris dodd's daughter was whispering. then we were in his speech, 4-year-old christine had her

hand on dad's shoulder, and then mom's nose. and then the older daughter goi going gaga at the mention of her name, and then she washes off his kiss. but beware what they eat, the man voters pick to be new jersey's next governor was not the only thing picked at his speech. we have seen enough of the lieutenant governor's elect's son getting his hand up. and then the president introduced his dad. young jack graduated to hand signals and fancy footwork. eventually, jack had to be marched off the stage.

even older kids can't stand still. letterman made this kid famous. will he ever live down his dad's swearing in as mayor, blowing kisses, and joining in the oath. you know, it's one thing when your kids steal the show, but how about when it's a couple of koalas? who cares about the tennis court when you can watch koalas court.